Numbers

For example, my daughter goes to lunch during the school day at 12:26. Really? 12:26? What’s wrong with 12:25? Or better yet, just round it up to 12:30, and call it good?

And football…the extra point? I’m all for a big score of 6 points for a touchdown, but then they just throw in this random point for kicking it through the uprights? That makes a total of 7 points, and 7 doesn’t break down nice and even.

Pumping gas? I can’t just stop the pump anywhere! It must be even on the dollar, of course.

Anyway, when it comes to diabetes, I love to see “blood sugars by 10’s” – 120, 150, 240…whatever. (Okay, 240 really isn’t one of my favorite numbers, but it’s easier for me to swallow than 239.) I also prefer to see the same number of hours between basal rate changes, and the same increment of change in ratios. When everything is evenly spaced and packaged nicely, it makes the chaos of diabetes seem less messy. I can pick up her pump, scroll through the screens, and see her day divided into comfortable square blocks of time.

Admittedly, this stuff gives me a false sense of control, but I’m okay with that.

So, a few weeks ago, my daughter kept spiking to the 300’s around 3:30 every day after school. I tried switching things up from a few starting points, and increasing her previous meal ratios, but nothing worked.

Well, nothing except a simple 0.025 U/hr basal increase at 1:30.

It left me unsettled. Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy (thrilled!) that her pump allows such precision with basal rates…but everything had been nicely programmed in 3 hour increments, around the clock.

Now, there was this random 1:30 in the mix.

UGH!!!!

Fortunately, I didn’t stew long. By the time the change was programmed and her pump nestled away, I was feeling better. No matter how nice and neat I try to crunch the numbers, this kind of change is inevitable. She’s a growing child. With every growth spurt comes more change. It really doesn’t matter if that change is at 12:00 or 1:30. What matters is that she’s getting the insulin she needs, when she needs it. I’ve learned that diabetes rarely follows rules, and hardly ever fits into a mold. With every pattern of change, we begin a new mission to find the magic balance.

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